Of Allergy Medication and Paperwork
by da.best.lima.bean.21
Summary: Elena was allergic to a lot of Pokemon. That remove a whole ton of potential careers for her. That was okay. She was gonna make it okay. A story of how to make it in a world obsessed with Pokemon without em.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have a plan for this. This is both to convince you and me. Hopefully I'll be able to convey everything I want to with this story.**

"Hey, are you gonna take next year's course?"

"Probably." A pause. Thunder boomed outside, and the connection cut out for a moment.

When her xtransceiver connected again, he was going on as if he hadnt even heard her. "All the stupid people are not gonna take it next year. They either won't be in a high enough math class or leaving to train pokemon."

Another bout of static.

"Of course, by the time they all quit and come back to school, they wouldn't be able to join anyways."

Elena leaned back and rested her head against the wall.

She was dumb according to Julian. And wasn't she? Elena hated her friends. Hate was a strong word, she loved them to death actually. She hated the fact that they were all smarter than her and weren't shy in rubbing it in her face.

They weren't doing it on purpose.

She knew that.

Then why did she still get so jealous? She wished she could have Julian's life, or Adrienette's life, or anyone else.

Terrified of bug pokemon, allergic to most pokemon with fur. Flying type pokemon required a tenacity that she wasn't ready for. Dark, psychic, and ghost would cause her parents to flip if she ever tried to train one.

So yeah.

Training pokemon would be out of the question for a potential career.

And now she's here. Taking the first level course for engineering. A field she doesn't actually want to join but it's a very rare not pokemon related thing offered by her school. She took the chance.

With the whole incident with the missing champion Hilda, Unova had bumped the age to embarking on a journey from 11 to 15. Elena and her classmates were almost all 10 at that time. They missed the cutoff by a year.

A fact that very few appreciated.

Now that the year they could leave on a trainer's journey was fast approaching, come fall, the classrooms would probably be empty.

"Elena? Hello? You there?" Julian's voice, was cutting in and out of static, and he had pulled up screen share. Elena could see a computer program being run, and realized that there was an assignment that she needed to help him with.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm here, just zoned out for a bit."

"Did you apply for the traveling internship Professor was telling us about?"

"Huh?"

"The internship. Where you got to travel the region."

"I thought that you didn't want to travel."

"Thats not. What I'm asking you."

Why was he so goshdang persistent for an answer?

"Right."

She didn't really want to admit to saying that she did apply. If she did get in the program and get to go, it would put major brakes in her plans for school.

"Elena? Are you okay? You've been acting kinda weird lately. . ."

He trailed off and for a second Julian actually sounded like a genuine caring person. Which was weird.

"Huh? I did apply."

This was going downhill. Alarms were going off in her brain telling her to disengage. And disengage she will.

"Well wouldya look at the time! I have to leave … and uh walk the- the pokemon."

"Your family doesn't have any pokemon."

At this point in time Elena's brain was taken over by the tiny, persistent, and annoying crush she hadn't been able to get rid of, no matter how big of a jerk Julian was. Elena's thought process was: _He remembered? Thats so super sweet! He's not so bad deep down!_

Along with her brain shutting down, her face became uncomfortably warm, and if it wasn't for her dark skin a blush would've shown.

Fortunately, the larger, and rational part of her brain kicked in and she was able to feasibly come up with a lie.

"Mrs. Madrid, my neighbor, her Budew, needs exercise, and I need experience with handling grass types."

A pause. Was he even listening?

"She's busy so it's a good exchange for us."

"Well if your parents had just gotten a pokemon when you were younger, you wouldn't be having such a problem."

 _How rude._

"Sosorryhavetogookaybye!" She hung up and sunk into the pillows on her bed.

Why, why, _why_? Why did she need to have such persistent feelings for him? When she finally was gonna get over him, and call Julian out on jerklike tendencies, he did something nice, sweet, or just _something_. And her heart went 100 mph.

It wasn't even on something sensible or smart!

Like the time at the symphony performance. She was finally getting over Julian, was gonna just think of them as friends, and only friends.

Unfortunate.

She was wearing a cute outfit for the concert, a short skirt, suit jacket, tux shirt. The works. Along with it she was wearing pretty cute heels, with bows on it and everything.

And it was a great feeling, cuz she was way taller than all her friends. They were all good at being smart, she was good at walking in heels. And being tall.

Then Julian came over when she had her arm on her friends shoulder, in a teasing manner.

Then he put his arm on her shoulder.

It lasted for only a few seconds but still.

100 mph.

He was not good for her health.

Alas, Elena's hands were tied, and she needed to use the ways of forbidding parents and every dramatic movie plot ever. The best way to get rid of a insistent and unwanted love.

Distance.

The internship.

Traveling the region, learning how to keep the human part of the pokemon scene. No one wanted those jobs so it was very lucrative.

She had the brains to make it there.

Jumping into action she grabbed the application packet.

"Don't worry Unova! I'm coming for you!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _Why do you believe you are qualified for this program?_ The question mocked Elena as she looked at the application packet, wondering what exactly gave them the _audacity_ for such a question.

Elena let out a sigh of exasperation and leaned back in her chair. Looking up at her ceiling she saw the pristine white ceiling, a sharp contrast to the pale yellow that the rest of her room was painted with.

"I like science?" Elena leaned back further in her chair, almost to the point if her foot wasn't pressed against the back panel of her desk she would've fell.

She did enjoy science, but with being cooped up inside for most of her free time, she was reduced to reading the magazines and journals she checked out from the rare trip to the library or the ones she found on the internet.

Elena loved her parents. She really did, and would do anything to not disappoint them. Like all parents though, they had their flaws. As a mere toddler, she had been taken to visit her uncle in Castelia City. It was her first and last visit there. She was sneezing the whole time, and could barely breathe. To this very day Elena could remember how miserable of a trip it was.

Once they got back home, a short visit to the doctors had her permanently renouncing the companionship of all things involving pokemon with fur. Subsequently, her parents decided the best course of action was not letting her slowly and gradually getting accustomed to pokemon dander like literally everyone had recommended, but to have her just stay inside. All day every day.

Elena supposed that it hurt them to see their only daughter to be miserable everyday but now she was reaping the consequences for a few years of taking a lower dosage of allergy medication.

 _Wait! That's it!_ Her face broke out in a grin, showing off bright blue braces. Leaning forward so quickly and aggressively that her face almost touched her computer screen, Elena started typing away her answer with an unparalleled speed. To the outside observer it would've looked like she was a madman, finally snapping.

"Of course!" Elena started talking to herself breathlessly, even though she was sitting in her chair, still. "I have the dedication to learn!"

"I don't need to be prompted to seek out knowledge!" Elena resumed typing at the breakneck speed she was going at earlier. The poor keyboard, it would need to be honored for it's valiant service at a later date.

"Ha! Hahaha!" Elena breathlessly laughed and leaned back in her chair once more.

She could totally do it.

Elena liked to think of her self confidence and self esteem as two very different things. Self confidence? She had in spades. Anything could be accomplished with the right amount of determination after all. Self esteem? If Elena's self confidence was visually represented as a HP bar, it would be at critical health. Her lack of self esteem often led her to becoming jealous of her friends, and constantly undermining herself.

Alas, what could be done? There were more pressing matters to be dealt with, and it was nearing midnight.

Elena got up, and promptly collapsed in her bed.

"Elena!" Her door was slammed open and the fluorescent light from the hallway pooled into the room.

"Mnnnnnnmghhh." Rolling over, Elena saw her mother looking disapprovingly at her. Despite her short stature, Emilia Ambrose was a scary woman.

"What? What time is it?" Elena was hesitant to get out of bed, but the post office was waiting.

"Seven-thirty." And with that her mother turned around - a touch dramatically it seemed, and left Elena to force herself out of bed.

Shower, brush hair, brush teeth, clothes, make bed, and go downstairs. It was an efficient process and she was about to go downstairs by 8. Elena was about to shut off the light in her room when she remember that she had forgotten the most important item of the day: the application.

 _Whoops!_

Walking downstairs at an amiable pace, she saw a few cobwebs gathering near the right-hand corner of the ceiling. She shivered. Bug type pokemon were a type she didn't suffer an allergy from but she had always been afraid of them, ever since her Aunt's spinarak had bitten her. She was absolutely miserable for days after the bite.

"Hey dad! I'm gonna run down to the post office and turn in this application. I'll be back soon, and if something comes up, I'll call you!"

Elena didn't wait for her dad's response, as she was already halfway out of the door.

The sun was shining brightly, a prologue to the intense heat of the nearing summer, but for right now it was shining warmly against her skin, in a way which made her almost drowsy. Standing there in the sunlight, with her eyes closed, Elena most certainly looked stupid.

"Yoo-hoo! Elena!" Mrs. Madrid was standing on her porch, in all of her 5 ft glory. It was almost as if she was waiting for this very opportunity.

"Yes? How can I help you Mrs. Madrid?" Elena plastered on a very fake smile, which probably did the expert job of convincing absolutely no one.

"Can you take Snookins out to exercise? I know you could use some yourself dear!" Mrs. Madrid had a Suburban Soccer Mom smile on her face, and Elena had no other choice but to comply.

After all, she would be the one to look like an idiot if she couldn't deal with any sort of pokemon. Even if the cards were never in Elena's favor doesn't mean that she couldn't swallow her pride and deal with it.

"Thanks Mrs. Madrid! I'm sure that we'll have lots of fun!" Flashing a bright cheery smile, Elena walked up on the wooden porch steps, identical to the ones that every house in that neighborhood had.

Mrs. Madrid handed her Snookin's pokeball and Elena felt a weight against her leg. Snookins was leaning against her leg, looking at her expectantly.

"We'll be off now I suppose." She sighed.

"Back in a few hours?" Mrs. Madrid inquired with some - most likely fake - concern.

"Of course!" And with that Elena and Snookins were off, eager to get out of the vicinity of that house as quick as possible. Lacunosa Town was quiet at this time of morning, and the cobblestones and cozy houses aesthetic of the town only added to the tranquilness of the morning.

Her temporary companion was very quiet as they walked to the post office, and they both were enjoying the sunlight. The familiar gray roads were lined with rows of flowers and trees, and the main square of the town only had a few people milling about. She said her customary good mornings and made small talk when needed.

Snookins was very content at just walking right next to her and occasionally straying away to look at the trees that they were walking by. Occasionally the pokemon would go "budew! Budew!" at something they wanted Elena to see as well.

The post office was nearing into view, with the familiar red and blue bordered envelope, and Elena checked her bag to see if the application was still there. It was, thankfully.

"Hey, Snookins," Elena asked the budew softly, "I need you to go in your pokeball really quick for me okay? The post office says no pokemon, but it'll be really quick okay?"

Even Elena could tell that Mrs. Madrid kept the pokemon to show off to her equally stuck up friends, what an exotic pokemon she has ' _Imported from *Sinnoh*!'_ Elena could just imagine the middle aged lady saying that in that fake high pitched voice.

Snookins nodded and Elena pressed the button on the specially customized heal ball which housed the budew most of the time.

Pressing the door of the small building open, she was greeted by the elderly Mr. Chapman, cheerful as always.

"Good Morning Elena!" _How was the man always so happy?_ "How are you doing on this fine morning?"

"Good Morning Mr. Chapman!" Elena broke out into a bright grin once more, this time a genuine one. "I'm doing absolutely amazing!"

The actual mailing itself of the application was boring, but Mr. Chapman was chattering away to fill the silence.

"The world cup - I hear that Red and Blue - Oh you're probably too young to know who they are, they both became champions at age 11 - They flew in to compete - Rosa beat that Blue kid - She's going up against Red today - It'll be all over TV-"

Elena wasn't really paying attention, she never kept up with the battling circuit like so many others did. Quickly, she signed the delivery form and waved her goodbyes to the elderly man.

Walking outside, Elena let Snookins out of their pokeball, and promptly ran into someone.

Literally.

Looking up, she saw a familiar blue jacket and was filled with dread.

 _Julian. At 9 in the morning. At the post office._

The more distance she wanted from the guy, the more she was put into situations where she had to deal with him.

Engineering? She asked for a seat closer to the front, and was placed in one right next to _him._ It was a huge classroom for crying out loud! PE? Placed in the same badminton doubles group. History? Same research group. It was like the universe was mocking her.

"Hey you okay?" Julian inquired with what seemed like concern. Or maybe it was to avoid a lawsuit, if he offered to pay for damages and declined, then her argument would seem weak in court.

It was amazing how the sheer force of spite could do for breaking the rose tinted glasses of an unrequited infatuation. Elena of even a few weeks ago would be overjoyed for all the chances to be near Julian but now. It was just inconvenient.

"Oh yeah! I'm fine!" Elena let out a little giggle, she had no idea why. "Silly me! Walking around without knowing where I'm going!"

Escape was needed, and very quickly. Distance was key after all, and spite was just exhausting. Elena didn't trust the Elena with her guard down.

 **A/N: Thank you The Reeds of Enki for your review! Your tips really inspired me and I hope I utilized them somewhat well. Thank you GS National! The fact that someone showed enough interest to leave a comment is really encouraging and I hope to improve my writing to make this a pleasant read!**

 **I want to really focus on Elena's journey as a whole, and making it in a world so heavily focused on pokemon, without pokemon. I want to make this story funny as well, but my sense of humor is kind of strange so it may seem kind of rambling or strangely put together at times, so please do tell!**

 **I'm also working on rewriting the first chapter, because I'm not satisfied with it as a whole and want to introduce snappier dialogue and make my writing less train of thought-y. Thanks for reading and stay safe yall 3!**


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